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In keeping with the tailoring each Master to the current Doctor theme, I think Benedict Cumberbatch would be a marvellous Moriarty for Matt Smith. Not that I'm the first to think that or anything. Hope it happens.

I just realized something. Anthony Ainley wanted to play a straight, darker version of The Master, too, and tried to do this in The Planet of Fire but JNT made him ham it up more. What is it about showrunners who want to make The Master all manic like against the wishes of the actors who want to play him straight?

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"Eccleston was a tiger and Tennant was, well, Tigger. Smith [is] an uncoordinated housecat who pretends that he meant to do that after falling off a piece of furniture." - Lynne M. Thomas

^ Well, there isn't, except that John Simm strikes me as the perfect contemporary of Tennant to play 10's nemesis. He's the Anti-Dave. So it strikes me further that Beanaddict Crumblethatch would be the perfect contemporary of Matt's if Moffat was to make a similar decision.

I think Tony Curran would make a better Master for Smith's Doctor than Cumberbatch.

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The greatest science fiction series of all time is
Doctor Who! And I'll take you all on, one-by-one
or all in a bunch to back it up!"
--- Harlan Ellison, from his introduction
to the PINNACLE series of Doctor Who books

I really like John Simm's Master, but he was really Tennant's Master, I'd just as soon see a new Master for Matt Smith's Doctor.

See, I like having a continuity of Masters between the Doctors. It emphasizes his role as a separate character who can also get recast rather than just a mirror of the Doctor. Of course, he can be a mirror too, but I wouldn't mind at least one episode overlap.

I have no difficulty with them re-casting Simm and the nature of the Master's role is that, like the Doctor, he can be reinvented. Having said that, it's been a long time (if ever) since any actor played the Master opposite two different Doctors (I believe Anthony Ainsley may have done so, no?) so it might be interesting to see how Simm's Master might react to a new Doctor, having only ever encountered Ten.

^ Well, there isn't, except that John Simm strikes me as the perfect contemporary of Tennant to play 10's nemesis. He's the Anti-Dave. So it strikes me further that Beanaddict Crumblethatch would be the perfect contemporary of Matt's if Moffat was to make a similar decision.

I agree with this. But I could also see Simm as a character that ties the continuity of the 10th and 11th Doctor's together in a nice way.

Hey, why not have both!

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"It's not that you can see the strings, it's that 40 years later you're still looking at them." - Steven Moffat
"This movie was big. Imagine how big it could have been with me in it?" William Shatner

I have no difficulty with them re-casting Simm and the nature of the Master's role is that, like the Doctor, he can be reinvented. Having said that, it's been a long time (if ever) since any actor played the Master opposite two different Doctors (I believe Anthony Ainsley may have done so, no?) so it might be interesting to see how Simm's Master might react to a new Doctor, having only ever encountered Ten.

Ainley started with Tom Baker and was still there in McCoy's last Story. So, he actually did 4 different Doctors, since Colin Baker worked with him in The Trial Season

^I thought he might have appeared opposite Davison and Baker but hadn't realised he'd appeared alongside 4 Doctors. Thanks for clarifying. I guess this does show that there's no need for a new Master to appear opposite each new Doctor.

Technically, Ainley worked with six of the seven classic era Doctors, since he did have scenes with Troughton and Pertwee in The Five Doctors. He also had scenes with Hurndall as well, though I'm not sure of he counts.